Greater Vampires

by Trudie Collins

  JD opened the door for them. “They’re in the lounge,” he said, “and are quite scared right now.” He turned to Gabriel. “That is why I don’t want them to meet you. Jonathon and Craig are in the games room. Go and join them.” It was not a request. While JD now trusted Gabriel, he wasn’t sure he wouldn’t do or say something that would frighten the hunters even more.

  Gabriel glanced at Gavin, who nodded. He agreed with JD. If the hunters were frightened, taking Gabriel with him would not be a good idea.

  JD led him to the lounge, where he found two hunters, still in their hunting suits, drinking coffee. The man was young, probably early twenties, with short dark hair and designer stubble. The woman was much older. They looked similar enough to be related.

  “This is Max and his aunt Stacey,” JD said. “Hunters, this is Gavin. I’m sure you have heard of him.”

  Both the hunters went pale, but did not back away from him.

  “I am not here to hurt you,” Gavin said. “I only want to talk to you. JD will remain in the room the whole time. I’ve been tasked with hunting down this rogue greater vampire and anything you can tell me might help. But first I need to examine your necks. May I?”

  Stacey was the first to nod. She didn’t react when he approached her. “It’s not me you are scared of, is it?” he said.

  “No. You would not be on the council if you meant the hunters any harm.”

  She moved her head to one side so he could examine her wound. Gavin looked closely, but didn’t touch her. When he had seen enough, he told her to sit down.

  “Firstly, let me assure you both that you are fine. You will not turn into vampires and the venom that was put into you will not harm you in any way.”

  Stacey and Max both sighed in relief. It wasn’t meeting Gavin that had frightened them, but the thought of being turned.

  “Also,” Gavin continued, “you have not become puppets of the vampire who bit you. He or she can’t control you. They altered your memories, and you will never get your real memories back, but if you’re worried that you’re still under any form of compulsion or mind control, you’re not. What we do to humans only lasts a few hours so it will have worn off by now.”

  “Thank you,” Stacey said. It was something she had discussed with her nephew while driving to Sanctuary 14 and it had been preying on both of their minds.

  “Tell me what happened,” Gavin said.

  Between them, Stacey and Max told him everything they knew. Their Sanctuary had received a call from Sanctuary 7 saying that vampires were feeding in a nearby park. Only three had been detected so the six available hunters headed out and no other Sanctuary was notified.

  When they arrived, they split into pairs and searched for their quarry. They didn’t find any vampires and when they all met back at the cars, the other hunters informed them that they had found and killed all three.

  None of them were concerned that Stacey and Max hadn’t found any vampires and they were patiently waiting for Sanctuary 1 to arrive when one of the other hunters spotted a mark on Max’s neck.

  “Was there any blood?” Gavin asked.

  “No. Other than the small holes, there was no sign that I had been bitten,” Max said. “If it wasn’t for the fact that I’m dating the hunter in question and she was stroking my neck, I don’t think any of us would have known anything was wrong.”

  “Does it make a difference?” JD asked.

  Gavin nodded. “It suggests the vampire is experienced. Newly turned vampires tend to leave larger wounds and don’t clean the blood off their victims. I believe whoever the rogue vampire is, he or she has moved into the area rather than being turned here.”

  JD indicated that Max should continue and he described his trainer phoning Sanctuary 7, who gave instructions that he and Stacey should head straight to Sanctuary 14 while they called Gavin.

  “We were also told that, after we had headed out on the hunt, Sanctuary 7 had picked up a fourth vampire feeding, but not for long.”

  “Indicating the greater vampire,” JD said.

  Gavin agreed. “I may be wrong, but I would say that it was coincidence that the greater vampire was there at the same time as the lesser vampires. Three were initially traced and three died. I would be very surprised if they weren’t lesser vampires and the fourth, the one that wasn’t found, was the greater one.”

  Gavin and JD stayed talking to the two hunters for a while longer, but there was nothing they could tell them that would be of any use.

  “Is there any way to break what has been done to them?” JD asked Gavin. “Any way to retrieve their memories?”

  “Possibly,” Gavin said. “But I am not prepared to do it. If I pump enough of my venom into them, I’ll be able to override everything this other vampire did. Unfortunately there is no way to know how much venom it will take. I’ll have to keep putting more and more venom into their systems until I can get their real memories to return. I can’t guarantee I won’t put so much into their bloodstreams that they turn. That is not a chance I am willing to take.”

  JD didn’t ask the hunters if they were prepared to take the risk. It would put them in a difficult position and they had been through enough already.

  “In that case, if you have no further questions for them, I will send them home.”

  “Thank you for your time,” Gavin said to Stacey and Max. “Go home and try to forget this ever happened.”

  Both shook his hand before they left.

  By the time Gavin and Gabriel got back to their home, Cassy and Brian had returned.

  “Female. Mid-twenties. Pretty, good figure, long brown hair,” Brian said.

  “Who is?” Gavin asked.

  “Our mysterious vampire.”

  “How do you know that?” Gabriel asked.

  Cassy grinned at him. “We found a witness. A homeless man was in the park, using one of the benches as a bed. He was drunk, but saw the attack on the hunters. I put enough venom into him to make him talk to me.”

  “Anything else?” Gavin asked.

  “She drove away in a red car. He had no idea what make.”

  “Well done,” Gavin said. “We may not know much, but at least we know more than we did a few hours ago.”

  “Did you find out anything?” Brian asked.

  “Not really. I suspect it was coincidence that she was there at the same time as the hunters. I also believe she is experienced rather than newly turned.”

  “It’s still not a lot to go on,” Gabriel said.

  “I know,” Gavin said. “But it’s better than nothing.”

  ————————————-∞————————————-

  A few weeks later, JD told his team that they would be going to Sanctuary 12 on the Sunday. Sanctuary 12 had an underground training area where all hunters practiced hunting in the dark.

  “As hunters or vampires?” Jonathon asked.

  “Hunters,” JD said. “5 and 12 will be joining you.”

  “Who will be playing the part of the vampires?” Katie asked.

  “You’ll find out when you get there.” None of them were concerned that JD hadn’t answered the question. They suspected it was so they wouldn’t know how many they would be facing. Only Sarah and Doc knew the real reason.

  “As I’ll be one of the vampires,” JD said, “I’ll have to get there early, so you’ll need to organise who is driving between you.”

  The conversation moved onto another topic and the hunters from 14 put the upcoming training from their minds.

  “You should have told them,” Sarah said when they were alone later that night.

  “Gavin said I couldn’t. He doesn’t want to risk anyone from another Sanctuary finding out. He knows that my team will be alright with what we have planned, but he’s not sure about the hunters from 5 and 12. Their trainers and leaders know, but nobody else.”

  “Whose idea was this?” Sarah asked.

  “I’m not sure. Someone on the council, I think
.”

  “Whoever it was, I bet they used to be a trainer.”

  “What makes you say that?”

  “Only a trainer could come up with something so evil.”

  JD laughed. Then he turned serious. “I know this is training, not hunting, but you are not going.”

  “Yes I am,” Sarah said. “But I will observe only. If you think I’m going to miss watching this then you don’t know me at all.”

  “When did you become so reasonable?” JD asked. He had been expecting an argument.

  “When you stopped being unreasonable,” she said.

  JD laughed once more, pulled her close to him and closed his eyes. They were both soon asleep.

  That goes beyond evil

  “Do you recognise any of the cars?” Shawn asked Jonathon as he pulled up beside JD’s. A number of vehicles had been abandoned in the driveway in front of Sanctuary 12, but Jonathon had no idea who the owners were.

  “The two on the left are from Sanctuary 5,” Jane said. “I have no idea about the others though.”

  Katie did a quick count. “Assuming that each vehicle was full, we will be facing twenty vampires, from two or three different Sanctuaries. Twenty one if you include JD.”

  “That seems a little unfair,” Jonathon said. “Numbers will be even and they get to see in the dark.”

  “Stop whining,” Shawn said. “Forget about the rest. I want to make sure our team kill JD. Nobody has managed it so far, but today I feel lucky.”

  “It’ll never happen,” Katie said as they walked up to the front door.

  Jeff, Sanctuary 12’s trainer, led them to the dining room, where hunters from 5 and 12 were already discussing tactics. All were dressed in hunting suits. As soon as the rest of 14 arrived, Jeff handed out tracking devices so he could identify who was who once they entered the basement.

  “Do you know who is playing vampire today?” Jonathon asked one of the hunters from 12 as they walked down the stairs.

  “No idea,” she replied. “We’ve been told nothing.”

  As he passed the control room, he glanced inside. It was packed with people. He quickly looked at each face before moving away from the door. He worked his way over to where Katie and Craig were standing, waiting to enter the basement training area.

  “Something is going on,” he whispered. “The trainer from 5 is in the control room with Sarah and Jeff, as I would have expected, but there are also trainers from six other Sanctuaries.”

  “That’s odd,” Katie said. Before she could say more, Jeff appeared.

  “You all know what to do,” he said loud enough for everyone to hear. “JD and two other vampires are in there. All you have to do is kill them before they kill you.”

  He opened the basement door and the first of the hunters entered.

  “Only three vampires?” Craig said. “This is going to be easy.”

  “When does the word easy ever apply to anything involving JD?” Jonathon said. “There has to be a catch.”

  Katie looked at the two men. “When he said two other vampires, you don’t think he meant that literally do you?”

  “Oh God,” Craig said. “This is going to be a slaughter.”

  Jonathon spotted Jane and Scott waiting to enter the basement and called them over.

  “Where’s my father?”

  “He’s already inside. Why?”

  “We think Gabriel and Luke are in there.”

  Scott grinned. “This is going to be fun. What’s the plan?”

  “Stick together,” Jonathon said. “Don’t get separated. I don’t think we’re going to survive this, but I intend us to be the last ones to die.”

  Jeff called them over. They were the only ones left who hadn’t entered the basement and when the door was closed behind them, darkness engulfed them. Then the screaming started.

  “I think you’re right Katie. Jeff was talking literally. Come on. Let’s head out. Keep in constant contact. They will see and hear us before we know they are there so there’s no point in keeping quiet.”

  “Which way do you want to go?” Craig asked.

  “Forward. Avoid the first few rooms.”

  As they moved, a voice sounded over the loud speaker, calling out names. Hunters were dying fast.

  In the control room, everyone was watching the monitors closely. Infrared cameras picked up everything that was going on in the rooms and the tracking devices displayed who was who.

  Most of the hunters had split up into pairs and were being easily picked off. JD, Luke and Gabriel were not actually hurting anyone, but the feel of fangs on their necks was scaring most of the hunters, even though the fangs never penetrated the skin. Within five minutes, half of them were dead.

  Most of those in the control room had been expecting Luke and Gabriel to act independently, but they didn’t. They stayed together, killing everyone in one room before moving to the next.

  “This is going to be interesting,” Sarah said, pointing to one of the monitors. “Shawn has just entered the room that Jason is in.”

  ————————————-∞————————————-

  Shawn moved slowly into the room, listening carefully. He had partnered up with one of the hunters from Sanctuary 5, but they had become separated in the dark.

  He heard the screaming, but forced it from his mind. He had trained at Sanctuary 12 many times and had observed his team training there frequently, but never had he known a hunter be so scared in the darkness that they screamed. It had him concerned, very concerned, but he couldn’t let himself think about it. He had to concentrate on staying alive.

  Someone was in the room, but he had no idea if it was a hunter or a vampire. He was tempted to call out, then thought better of it. If it was someone playing vampire, they might not yet know he was there.

  He felt something brush the back of his neck and he swung around, his sword extended, but it made contact with nothing.

  Though he was using a blunt sword, it could still hurt someone, so part of him was glad that he missed whoever had been behind him. Then again, whoever it was knew that he was armed so should not have let him know they were there.

  Shawn stood still, listening for any sound of movement. He heard nothing. He was tense and forced himself to relax. He couldn’t see anything and had to rely on his hearing.

  Another scream rang through the building, breaking his concentration, followed by the name of someone from Sanctuary 12 being called out. So far, he hadn’t heard anyone from 14 being told they were dead, but it was only a matter of time. He had no idea who was playing the role of vampires, but they were good.

  He sensed rather than heard movement behind him and swung around once more. This time whoever was attacking him grabbed his arm before his sword could make contact with flesh. He felt his head pulled to one side, exposing his neck, and a voice whispered in his ear, “You’re dead father.”

  He opened his hand and let his sword fall to the floor. JD picked it up and handed it back to him. Shawn waited until his name had been called out before speaking.

  “What’s going on?” Now that he was out of the fight, he was sure his son would tell him.

  “Luke and Gabriel are here.”

  Shawn couldn’t believe what he had just heard. No wonder so many were dying.

  “That goes beyond evil. How could you even think of doing this to hunters?”

  “I didn’t. I was ordered to. Now I would love to stay and chat, but I have work to do. Someone with night vision goggles will be along soon to escort you out.”

  ————————————-∞————————————-

  The flow of names slowed as Jonathon lead the team from room to room. JD had heard them talking, but didn’t approach them. He would leave them to Luke and Gabriel.

  Jonathon lost count of the number of hunters who had died so he had no idea how many were left alive.

  “Someone’s here,” Katie said. She didn’t bother to whispe
r. If it was any of the three vampires, they would have heard her anyway.

  “Stay close. Tactics as we discussed. If that doesn’t work, nothing will.”

  Keeping close together, they cautiously moved forward. Katie was on point and as she took another step, she sensed someone beside her.

  “Now,” she called out as she felt hot breath on her neck. Jonathon swung his sword, praying that Katie would remember to duck.

  Before it could make contact with her attacker’s neck, he was tackled to the ground. “You’re dead,” Luke said. “So is Katie.”

  “And so is Gabriel,” Craig said. He had swung his sword at the same time as Jonathon. While Luke was taking care of Jonathon, Craig’s blade connected with Gabriel’s neck. Had it been a sharp sword, it would have beheaded him. As it was, the pain that shot through Gabriel almost made him cry out.

  “My God,” someone in the control room said. “They actually managed to kill one of them.”

  “Jonathon and Katie are out of the game,” Jeff said into the microphone. “So is one of the vampires.” He purposely didn’t mention the name.

  Luke stood up and helped Jonathon to his feet. He didn’t try to attack the other three, who were all in a fighting stance, ready to defend themselves.

  “See you later,” he called out. “And watch your backs.” Then he ran from the room. Hunting them down when they didn’t know when to expect him would be more fun than killing them where they stood. Also, there were a few more hunters left to dispose of.

  Craig took command. “Follow me,” he said. “Let’s hunt Luke down.”

  Once they had left the room, Gabriel approached Jonathon and Katie. “I’m impressed. I didn’t think anyone would manage to kill me. Then again, you knew Luke and I were down here, didn’t you.”

  “We suspected,” Jonathon said. “With this many hunters and only three vampires we knew something was going on. It was Katie who figured it out.”

  All three tensed when they heard a door open. Someone walked in and handed them night vision goggles.

  “The exit is this way,” she said. “Follow me.”

  In the control room, Sarah’s eyes were glued to a screen. JD had killed hunter after hunter and was so far uninjured. There were only five of them left. She saw Luke enter the room and wondered if they were going to attack each other, or if they knew they were both vampires.